That would enable Unnerstall, who is chief executive officer of the Cocoa Expo, to move forward with plans to hold concerts and other large-scale events at the complex, assuming he meets several other still-uncompleted requirements commissioners detailed at Tuesday's meeting.

The County Commission voted 4-1 in favor of Fisher's proposal, which was crafted during meetings with representatives of Cocoa Expo and county staff.

Fisher said he saw this as an "economic development project," in that more business for Cocoa Expo would bring more visitors to the county, helping hotels, restaurants and other local businesses, as well as creating jobs.

Fisher said the deal is "kind of unusual."

"We're kind of going out of our way," Fisher said. "But I think it's the right thing to do."

County Commission Chairman Jim Barfield voted against the plan because he believes Unnerstall should pay for at least half the cost of the road upgrades.

Commissioner Trudie Infantini said she is pleased to see a majority of the commission support the proposal, as she has maintained for some time that the Cocoa Expo will provide a positive economic impact for the county, and that Unnerstall has spent a considerable amount of his own money on upgrades to the sports and entertainment complex.

"I've contended for the longest time that I thought it was going to be a huge economic driver," Infantini said. "I think it's a good showing that we approved his project as presented."

Unnerstall told commissioners he has a $20 million mortgage on the Cocoa Expo property, and he has spent an additional $17 million of his own money on upgrading the facility.

Brevard County Public Works Director John Denninghoff said the $770,000 in roadwork includes turn lanes, road striping and drainage improvements. About 60 percent of the work will be on Friday Road, 30 percent on State Road 520 and 10 percent on State Road 524.

Money for the work would come from unallocated gas tax revenue, Denninghoff said.

While four of the five commissioners supported the plan, some of them weren't thrilled about Cocoa Expo's series of visits to the County Commission to seek modifications to its zoning and development plan.

County Commission Vice Chair Curt Smith said commissioners and county staff have "bent over backwards, and we keep bending and bending" to help Cocoa Expo.

Smith said he is tired of hearing Cocoa Expo and its supporters trying to make it look like the county is "the bad guys."

Among speakers supporting Cocoa Expo at Tuesday's meeting were the owner of a nearby Days Inn, the head of a vending machine company with machines at Cocoa Expo and a concert promoter interested in booking concerts at Cocoa Expo.

"The plane needs to land," Unnerstall said, in encouraging county commissioners to approve the agreement on the roads. "It goes on and on and on and on, and it's killing us. We need to get on, and we've got to do business. We have performed and performed and performed and performed. We've got to be allowed to have our big events."

But Barfield said the problem is that "there's always something else they get a waiver on, something else, something else" that Cocoa Expo and its attorneys want from the county.